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I have a thing for old books. They’re fun to read, and they’re fun to decorate with. A few months ago, I read a blog post about making a journal out of an old book. (FYI: This is from one of my favorite blogs, and I’ve not added it to my Internet Favorites list yet, so you should check it out.)

So of course, I went through my apartment, looking at all my old books and picked out the perfect one to journal-ize. A children’s book called Mishmash and Uncle Looey was the winner. I made the journal some time ago, but I kept the pages I cut out for a later project.

Yesterday while Dustin was computer-ing I picked up the stack of pages and cut out our letters. I didn’t have any plans for the letters, but Dustin liked them and suggested framing the letters individually with black frames. So that’s our plan.

And that’s the story of how Mishmash and Uncle Looey became an accidental wall art DIY.

With a new job and a growing collection of freelance writing assignments, I’ve got quite the collection of contact information. I haven’t had the best system for keeping everything together and organized, either. I have several business cards in my wallet and a few e-mails I’ve saved for the information in the signature.

But this weekend I grew up and entered the world of organized, young professionals. I created a Rolodex out of a recipe box, index cards and alphabetical dividers.

Then, because I want to ensure that “young” will be tacked on to “professional” for a while to come, I made my Rolodex cute with scrapbook paper.

The weekend started well. Friday morning I woke up early, watered my new flowers, and sat on the balcony with an iced coffee to contemplate life.

May 19 – Explorations

Saturday we explored our town. We went to the library. We browsed downtown shops. We ate at a new-to-us local restaurant. We tried out a few new thrift stores. The day ended with Louie, a Springfield Cardinals cupcake. Louie was a delicious blend of red velvet and french vanilla cake marbled together in one great cupcake. (The cupcake was named by the cupcake shop, but had I named my cupcake before eating it that would have been perfectly acceptable.)

May 20 – The Garden Experiment – Take Two

My balcony garden is expanding. In the past week it has gone from a lonely balcony weasel named Lil’ Weezy to a plant-filled oasis of flowers, peppermint, tomatoes, jalapenos, cantelope and a humming bird feeder. Let’s hope it fairs better than last year’s balcony garden. I tried growing the same number of plants and ended the summer having had two small strawberries.

Any gardening tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated.

(If your tip goes something like, “Keep scissors away from your plants,” I’m aware. I used them to open the bag of potting soil.)

Dustin is recovering from a minor illness. So we canceled our plans for the night, covered our balcony with pillows and blankets, and sat outside talking until it was time for bed. We went through our relationship, starting with the night we met, and we talked about all the things God has done for us in the short time we’ve known each other. It’s been a wonderful journey.

I’ve been working on getting my desk in order. By “desk”, I mean “card table”.

Card tables clearly don’t have drawers or storage space, so I painted a few cardboard boxes from Birchbox. One holds extra pens and pencils, one holds small notepads and paper clips, and one holds stationary.

I announced yesterday that I will be the editor of a new lifestyle magazine. I’ll be working from home, at least in the beginning. Dustin and I have been in discussions about my new “office”. This corner is most likely going to be my new work space. I’m incredibly excited to get it set up. I’ve been browsing office and desk set ups on Pinterest, and this series from the Birchbox Blog has me really inspired.

I would love to hear from you: Do you have any tips, tricks or advice for setting up my new work space in a way that’s cute and functional?